From Advisory to Action: Preparing for Visa’s VAMP Enforcement
December 4, 2025
As the payments world shifts under the weight of evolving fraud, dispute, and enumeration risk, Visa’s new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) has landed. With enforcement beginning October 1, 2025, the stakes are higher for merchants and acquirers alike. At Finix, we believe preparedness and robust payments infrastructure are critical. That’s why we’re positioning ourselves to help merchants move from advisory‑phase awareness to absolute compliance and long‑term resilience.
What is VAMP, and why does it matter
In April 2025, Visa consolidated its previous fraud‑ and dispute‑monitoring frameworks into a unified program, VAMP.
Under VAMP:
Fraud (TC40) and disputes (TC15) are now counted together under a single metric, the VAMP ratio.
A new dimension of risk, enumeration (card‑testing / credential‑stuffing), is also measured.
Oversight shifts firmly to acquirers, who are held responsible for the overall risk profile of their portfolio, meaning that even if a single merchant underperforms, the acquirer (and possibly other merchants on that acquirer) may feel the consequences.
For merchants, the impact is direct. Under certain conditions, failure to manage fraud and disputes can trigger fees, remediation programs, or even termination risk by acquirers.
Because VAMP combines previously separate signals into a single view, merchants can no longer treat fraud and disputes as siloed risk buckets. They are now part of a holistic risk score, and it will tighten over time.
That makes this more than a compliance conversation. It demands operational discipline, accurate data, and thoughtful payment infrastructure.
Key VAMP Rules & What Changed on October 1, 2025
As of last quarter, VAMP moved from advisory to enforcement. Here is a breakdown of the core rules and thresholds that merchants need to internalize now.
Unified Fraud + Dispute Ratio
The VAMP ratio is calculated as:
(number of TC40 fraud cases + number of TC15 disputes) ÷ number of settled transactions
This means every reported fraud and every dispute now contributes to the same risk metric.
Because a single fraudulent transaction may trigger both a TC40 and a TC15 (if it becomes a chargeback), that one transaction could effectively be counted twice, amplifying its impact.
Minimum volume threshold + Ratio Limits
To trigger VAMP monitoring, a merchant (or acquirer) typically needs to exceed a minimum number of fraud + dispute events in a given period. For major regions, including the U.S., that threshold is 1,500 such events per month.
Thresholds for what constitutes “excessive” activity are:
Merchant-level: initially 2.2% fraud/dispute ratio, dropping to 1.5% on April 1, 2026.
Acquirer-level: Acquirers whose portfolio-wide ratio goes above 0.5% are flagged as “above standard.” Those that exceed 0.7% are deemed “excessive.”
These thresholds represent a more stringent footing than older systems.
Enumeration Monitoring
VAMP is not only about fraud and chargebacks. It also monitors “enumeration” suspicious authorization activity, such as credential‑testing attacks. An unusually high rate of such attempts can trigger scrutiny, even before disputes arise.
Enforcement & Financial Impact
With enforcement starting October 1, 2025, merchants and acquirers now face tangible risk: fees per dispute or fraud event, heightened monitoring, or even account removal.
Because acquirers are responsible for the portfolio, a single high‑risk merchant can place pressure on the acquirer, which may respond by passing costs or restrictions downstream.
Some industry providers have already developed tools, for example, a “VAMP Risk Calculator”, to help merchants assess potential costs and impacts under VAMP.
Why This Matters for Merchants and Why Finix Cares
The shift from advisory to enforcement under VAMP means the cost of risk is no longer theoretical.
A single fraudulent or disputed transaction now carries more weight. Because fraud + disputes are unified, and some transactions may be double‑counted, a previously acceptable chargeback volume could now push a merchant into “excessive” territory.
Merchants with larger volume, high growth, or historically modest fraud/dispute rates might be particularly vulnerable, especially now that enumeration and card‑testing attacks are explicitly tracked.
Because acquirers themselves are under pressure, merchants may face not only fees but stricter underwriting, higher reserve requirements, or even de‑risking (i.e. ,account closure).
The compliance burden is now operational: merchants must not just monitor chargebacks, but also integrate fraud signals, track enumeration, resolve disputes early, and proactively manage risk.
Without a robust payments infrastructure, this could become a recurring pain point rather than a one‑time adjustment. That is why companies like Finix are critical partners.
How Finix Is Positioned to Help
At Finix, we recognize that VAMP is less about compliance paperwork and more about how payments are built, processed, and monitored. We believe Finix offers merchants tools and infrastructure that help meet VAMP demands with precision, transparency, and flexibility. Here is how we approach this challenge.
Unified Data and Visibility
Effective VAMP compliance starts with precise, reliable data on fraud, disputes, and transactions. Finix’s payment infrastructure is built to provide merchants with real‑time visibility on authorization volume, settled transactions, and dispute/fraud events. This makes it easier to calculate and monitor your “VAMP ratio.”
Because VAMP counts both fraud and disputes, and may count the same transaction twice, knowing precisely what’s happening, when, where, and why, is critical. With Finix, you get that clarity.
Support for Dispute Prevention & Early Resolution
VAMP penalizes not just disputes, but unresolved fraud and late chargebacks. That means the tools merchants use for early dispute resolution, fraud prevention, and enumeration defense matter more than ever. Finix’s platform is built to integrate with leading fraud‑prevention tools and supports workflows that help flag suspicious activity early, long before a dispute escalates.
Flexibility to Adapt to VAMP’s Evolving Rules
VAMP thresholds tighten over time (e.g., merchant ratio moving from 2.2% down to 1.5% in April 2026). Because Finix supports modular, configurable payment flows, merchants can adapt as rules evolve, whether by adjusting authorization logic, enabling stricter fraud checks, or changing dispute‑management workflows.
Risk‑aware Acquirer Relationships
Under VAMP, acquirers bear much of the liability for their portfolios. That means your acquirer’s approach to risk and its monitoring of its merchants could affect you directly. With Finix, you can select or switch among acquirers, negotiate risk terms, and manage your acquirer relationships with transparency.
Data‑Driven Alerts & Trend Monitoring
Finix enables merchants to build dashboards and alerts around key payment KPIs, including dispute/fraud volume, settlement rates, authorization patterns, and more. That kind of proactive, data‑driven monitoring is exactly what VAMP compliance demands.
What Merchants Should Do Right Now: Finix’s Recommended Checklist
If you haven’t already taken action, here’s what we recommend every merchant do, ideally with a payments partner like Finix.
Audit the last 6–12 months of your fraud, dispute, and authorization data. Calculate your VAMP ratio under the new rules. This gives you a baseline and reveals whether you might already be in “excessive” territory.
Integrate fraud‑ and dispute‑prevention tools. Use 3D Secure, card‑testing protection, velocity checks, and real‑time authorization analytics.
Set up internal dashboards and alerts. Monitor your VAMP ratio, fraud/dispute volume, enumeration risk, and authorization trends.
Work closely with your acquirer. Confirm how they classify and report TC40s and TC15s. Understand whether they offer VAMP‑specific dashboards or risk‑management tools.
Use early resolution tools. When supported, deploy systems like chargeback alerts or automated dispute resolution to prevent issues before they count against you.
If you're using Finix, configure your payment flows with risk in mind. Take advantage of modularity to enable stricter fraud checks, adaptive routing, or conditional reviews.
Plan for tighter thresholds. VAMP is not static. With merchant ratios dropping over time, staying well below current thresholds is prudent.
Why Finix Leads: VAMP as a Signal, Not a Shock
The arrival of VAMP is more than a compliance update. It reflects a broader shift in payments: risk is no longer a back‑office concern, but a core part of how payments are built and processed.
Finix was designed with that reality in mind. Our infrastructure gives merchants the visibility, control, and flexibility they need to navigate evolving risk requirements.
By treating fraud, disputes, enumeration, and their interplay as core payment‑processing data rather than exceptions, we’re helping businesses stay ahead of enforcement and build a stable foundation for growth.
If you’d like, I can walk you through a sample Finix-based implementation that helps a merchant stay under VAMP thresholds as volume scales.
Take Control of VAMP Compliance with Finix
VAMP enforcement is here, and the time to act is now. Staying under thresholds, preventing disputes, and managing fraud isn’t just about avoiding penalties; it’s about safeguarding revenue, maintaining customer trust, and scaling with confidence.
With Finix, you get the tools, visibility, and flexibility to:
Monitor fraud, disputes, and enumeration in real time
Resolve disputes before they impact your VAMP ratio.
Adapt quickly as thresholds tighten across regions.
Optimize your payment flows to reduce risk and maximize approvals
Don’t wait for a compliance alert to disrupt your business.